If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Filling comb is an old idea, and it works pretty well as emergency feed.

It's time consuming, messy, and doesn't work all that much better than a candy board, but it is easier for the bees to get to the syrup. Probably only possible to fill one side properly, it will spill out if you flip the comb over.

There is no need to worry about inverting the syrup, the bees can use sucrose just fine. They make honey by inverting the sucrose because it stays liquid better for winter storage, but filling comb with syrup is emergency feed, not overwinter prep!

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by trykonxlgold85

i can't offer you any advise about size but a word of caution, even if you never ran hydraulic oil through that pump i would bet that the factory did.

Of course I would clean the pump prior to using it however I was looking to do this as a test. I ran water through my setup and it worked perfectly. I ended up talking to a pump manufacturing company and I ordered a food grade bronze pump that I will run with an electric motor.

Originally Posted by Dave Burrup

Why work so hard? Filling comb with sugar or syrup is going to be messy and time consuming, just put sugar on top of the frames. The bees will liquify it and put it where they want it when they need it. Putting syrup in frames and then ito the hive will raise the humidity level resulting in more condensation. Dry sugar will reduce the condensation as well as keeping it from dripping into the hive.
Dave

I am using a saturated sugar solution and it is 67% solids. I am not worried about the humidity personally-the syrup is nearly as thick as honey.

Originally Posted by psfred

Filling comb is an old idea, and it works pretty well as emergency feed.

It's time consuming, messy, and doesn't work all that much better than a candy board, but it is easier for the bees to get to the syrup. Probably only possible to fill one side properly, it will spill out if you flip the comb over.

There is no need to worry about inverting the syrup, the bees can use sucrose just fine. They make honey by inverting the sucrose because it stays liquid better for winter storage, but filling comb with syrup is emergency feed, not overwinter prep!

Peter

So far I feel like the filling of frames is not going to be nearly as messy as spraying. The vat I will dip the frames in is fairly deep. I have it setup with the two spray bars about 4" apart so there will be no flipping the frames-just dip up & down a couple of times.
Thanks-Howard

"Challenger" as in the Mopar muscle car. Not a personality description .
Keeping bees to raise money for chordoma.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by challenger

So far I feel like the filling of frames is not going to be nearly as messy as spraying. The vat I will dip the frames in is fairly deep. I have it setup with the two spray bars about 4" apart so there will be no flipping the frames-just dip up & down a couple of times.Thanks-Howard

That won't work. Surface tension will keep the cells from filling. Syrup has to be rained down into the cells either under pressure or from above w/ a sprinkler.If you want to go low tech, punch a bunch of holes in the bottom of a coffee can and scoop up the syrup and let it rain down onto the surface of the comb. That's how I did it.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by sqkcrk

That won't work. Surface tension will keep the cells from filling. Syrup has to be rained down into the cells either under pressure or from above w/ a sprinkler.If you want to go low tech, punch a bunch of holes in the bottom of a coffee can and scoop up the syrup and let it rain down onto the surface of the comb. That's how I did it.

I must not have explained myself properly because this system absolutely does work. Check out this video please:
As I mentioned I have tried ALL feeding methods and, for me, the coffee can method is terribly time consuming.
One of the biggest issues is that 2:1 syrup is much too viscous. It is almost as if 1:1 is about like water and the 2:1 that I purchased from a sugar refining company in Charlotte NC is much closer to the viscosity of honey than any syrup I have ever made myself. Some of this may be due to the fact that the syrup is a bit colder right now that I am used to seeing it.

I do not see a way to put this link in as a URL??? so anyone interested will have to cut & paste.
Thanks
Howard

BTW-if this turns out to be a failure in regards to inefficiency and/or messiness I'll be the first to admit. I have absolutely no problem trying things because of an idea that may pop into my head. I've done all sorts of experimenting with too many interests to list and, needless to say, most have failed. The successes are always worth every failure. I have found beekeepers in general to be extremely set in their ways and their way is the only way. I know this is a generalization but I've met hundreds and I feel my sampling has been thorough enough to make this bold statement. This is why I quit going to my local club meetings. There were several members that were open to ideas but the ones that have kept bees for a decade or more will tell you exactly how to keep bees and have no desire to make any changes.
Thanks
Howard

"Challenger" as in the Mopar muscle car. Not a personality description .
Keeping bees to raise money for chordoma.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by challenger

So far I feel like the filling of frames is not going to be nearly as messy as spraying. The vat I will dip the frames in is fairly deep. I have it setup with the two spray bars about 4" apart so there will be no flipping the frames-just dip up & down a couple of times.
Thanks-Howard

Yes, something broke down between calling spraying messy and saying that dipping will work just fine, dipping into a deep vat. What is illustrated in the video is someone dipping combs between two streams of syrup being sprayed. Exactly the same as the Kelley system I mentioned a number of Posts ago.

Your wording thru me off, dipping into a deep vat. Dipping combs into a vatr of syrup or a barrel of syrup won't work. What one sees in the video will.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Hey guys , this is jeff from beez4life,in my opinion and you can look it up, white sugar and hfcs wreaks havoc on the bees immune system.....just use a top feeder and fill it up with honey that is what they make to feed themselves threw winter.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by beez4life

Hey guys , this is jeff from beez4life,in my opinion and you can look it up, white sugar and hfcs wreaks havoc on the bees immune system.....just use a top feeder and fill it up with honey that is what they make to feed themselves threw winter.

This might not be as disease free a solution as you think.

"If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."
- W.T.S.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

WOW! Almost forgot where I was when reading this thread. My operation sprays over 6000 frames of yes HFCS each year to start packages. The key on spraying is to keep the over spray contain and a good filter on the recycling pump. Well an a few other things.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

I saw a video some using a squeeze bottle and spraying the sugar water into the cells, made it look easy and not too messy, I might give it a try some time.

I use white sugar, I might use HFCS if it was cheaper. but once you figure the water weight and I think the only way to get HFCS cheap is buy in commercial quantities. White sugar in commercial quanities is also alot cheaper.

There is an interesting study on this site about bee fed sugar, HFCS and grape syrup.
"Caged bees survived longest on sucrose syrup"
So it apears that white sugar is better for bees then honey.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

Originally Posted by FlowerPlanter

I use white sugar, I might use HFCS if it was cheaper. but once you figure the water weight and I think the only way to get HFCS cheap is buy in commercial quantities. White sugar in commercial quanities is also alot cheaper.

It takes approx. $1500 for me to make up a tote of sugar syrup, whereas I can buy a tote of HFCS for aprox. $750 (275 gal). I am sure there are places where commercial sugar can be purchased, but the labor factor is pretty big.

"If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."
- W.T.S.

Re: Filling comb with sugar syrup.

all about the money ..you should try thinking like a bee,do they make honey or sugar water.

to protect the bee, money is not the answer,giving them the proper food is and there environment is

if the bees make honey out of sugar water,it is not true honey from flowers is it? then they store it and eat it for winter, were is all the nutrients ?there is none ,so there immune system gets weak and than they die.

And just in case you didn't get the message earlier, this is from his home page.

To preserve the immune system of the bee we only feed them their own honey (NOT TOXIC WHITE SUGAR). Sugar is void of any nutrition and contains bleach and chemicals, that wreak havoc on their immune system, decreasing their ability to fight off dis-ease and viruses and in our opinion weaken the hive.http://www.beez4life.com/